Officer helps homeless man shave so he can apply for job

July 23, 2018

Officer Carlson of the Tallahassee Police Department helps a homeless man shave his beard outside a gas station.

Kelly Duvall/Tallahassee Police Department

A Florida police officer’s act of kindness is going viral after he was seen on video helping a homeless man shave his beard so he could apply for a job at McDonald’s. According to a post on the Tallahassee Police Department’s Facebook page, a witness captured the deed on camera over the weekend.

Kelly Duvall sent in a picture and video to the police department after her daughter filmed an officer shave a homeless man’s beard outside a Circle K gas station on Thomasville Road, CBS affiliate WTSP reports. She explains her daughter went inside the store and encountered Officer Carlson, who was cleaning himself up.

“She offered to buy him a drink and got talking,” she wrote. “Apparently the officer was at McDonald’s next door and this gentleman went in looking for a job. He was told they wouldn’t hire him unless he shaved his beard. So the officer went and got some clippers and shaved the man’s beard so he could go back and get a job!”

#MustSee #MorePureAwesomeness We thought the picture was awesome, well here’s THE VIDEO of Officer Carlson helping one of our citizens. #TPD #Tallahassee THE STORY AS TOLD BY THE CITIZEN SUBMITTING THE INFORMATION: “My daughter just sent me this picture and called to tell me the story, I had to share….she went to the gas station and saw this officer shaving a homeless man’s beard. A minute later the officer went into the store and Hannah walked in after him and saw him cleaning himself up because he was hot and sweaty. She offered to buy him a drink and got talking. Apparently the officer was at McDonald’s next door and this gentleman went in looking for a job. He was told they wouldn’t hire him unless he shaved his beard. So the officer went and got some clippers and shaved the man’s beard so he could go back and get a job! I am so proud to live in a community where our deputies and officers are such wonderful people. Good job Tallahassee Police Department!!! ❤”

Posted by City of Tallahassee Police Department on Sunday, July 22, 2018

“I am so proud to live in a community where our deputies and officers are such wonderful people. Good job Tallahassee Police Department!!!” Duvall wrote. The video now has more than 24,000 views on Facebook.

Carlson told the Tallahassee Democrat he saw the man named Phil trying to shave his beard, but he didn’t have a mirror and was having trouble with a razor. So the officer fixed the razor and shaved his thick beard for him.

“If he’s wanting to help himself, I need to be more than helpful and try to help him out the best I can,” Carlson said. “Hopefully from this, Phil will get a job.”

And he did. Brittany Duhart, a manager at the McDonald’s on Thomasville Road, confirmed to CBS News that Phil got the job and started on Monday.